The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-01-20
STORY OF 1.-TWO T
An Old Horse Who Died For His
Country.

In June, 1864, / was made Post
quaftermaster Of a command consisting
Of one company Of the Fifth United
States Infantry. and q troop Of Cali
fornia Cavalry, under orders to build
and occupy a fort e a the town of
Prescott, Ariz., recently established as
the capital Of the Territory. This COM
mand had In possession at the time I
mention some three hundred head Of
cattle. eight hundred head of sheep.
and. counting the draught animals and
cavalry horses, one hundred mules and
forty horses. The presence of these
animals. grazing on the plains and hill
sides about u garrison, was a special
temptation to the marauding Navajos
and Apaches. and we were forced into
many fights and skirmishes in the de-
Tense Of our stock. About six months
after u arrival at Fort Whipple, the
California Cavalry was ordered away,
and a troop of New Mexican Cavalry
took its place. Two days after the ar
rival of the new troop, its captain
turned over to me sixteen WORKOUT,
~brokeu-down, sick and generally de-
erepit horses. I receipted for them.
and, according to custom in such
cases, ordered q public sale of them by
auction.
On the morning Of the sale the fifer
Of the infantry o pany, a neat Irish
soldier, known among his comrades as
Joe Cain. who acted as my servant.
paused In the doorway. and asked per-
mission to speak to me. Consent hav-
ing been given, he said:
"Would the Liftinent like to buy q
fine horsef"
mo. CANT replied. IL have one
horse, which is sufficient for my use,
and I can not-afford the expense of an
other"
..But this horse can be had for little
Or nothing. sor."
'.How muchs"
dollars, I'll buy him the Dist horse in
the post"
The best horse in the post for five
dollarsl Cain, you are talking non
sensei" I replied and turned with some
impatience to my table, where some
writing demanded my attention.
IF the Liftinent will buy the horse
spake of. he'll niver reprint of his bar.
gain. I've known the haste for tin
years. sor; from the the time / jined a:
amusic-b'y at Craig, sor."
/ thought / detected the least tinge
Of feeling in the old soldiers voice
Evidently this was no idle within with
him. More to please a valued and
trustworthy attendant than with the
expectation of obtaining a good horse
j gave Cain the five dollars to enabl,
him to attend the auction and '.buy thu
finest horse in the post"
Cain bought the animal, a large, fin,
bay horse, and proceeded to tell M
how he came TO ask me to buy him
He was at the corral one day to brinl
me my horse for a ride, when he saw
one of the stablemen kicking an OLD
horse to make him rise to his feet. TIL,
beast made repeated efforts to stand
but each time fell back through weak
ness. Cain approached, and recog
mixed in the animal an old acquaint
ance from certain saddle-marks and
peculiar star in The forehead. He hal
known the horse while in service at an
other post, where the name of Two
Bits had been given him.
Cain insisted that the old horse knew
him, and placed his muzzle in his ham
in an appealing way. Cain began hi
. Of the horse at once, and as 500
as the auction was ordered, he deter
mined to ask me to buy him; with wha
success / have already related. Fror
this time on / had many long rides o.
Two-Bits in the weary and tiresom
pursuit of the Indians, who never neg
lected to take advantage of the unpro
tected state of the Territory. l gre,
very much attached to him, and ofte
wondered at his intelligence and a
most human discernment. He woul
never desert his rider in danger, n
matter what the temptation.
In the fall of 1865 the Indian trouble
became SO serious that it was with gres
difficulty that we could maintain GU
. communications with the outer worlt
Express riders were frequently kille
and scalped, and the contents Of tn
express pouches were scattered fo
yards around their dead bodies: all lie
ters-were opened, and the papers tor
10 shreds.
The danger from the Indians becam
at last SO great that no citizen could /
hired to take the mail over the rout
between Fort Whipple and Yuma 1
any price ] was authorized to pay. TIL
only way to get 1t carried was by deta
Of soldiers in sufficient numbers to il
sure their safety. One of the results
acapture of the mail was that a requis
ton for supplies did not reach the sui
sistence depot on the Pacific coast, an
we were On ~half-rations in consequent
for nearly a month.
On the goth of October a dispatc
wak received from San Francisco, wit
accompanying instructions that
should he at once forwarded t o San
Fe. Accordingly 1 advertised for a
express rider, offering the highest pr
allowed for the service. As the road
tho northeast was II of the mining L
gi6ssand for a long portion Of the Wa
over a tract of country lying betwet
the Navajo and Apache ranges. it w;
not considered to be as dangerous
that lying to the south and west.
Still J had no response to my ofle
and began TO consider the expedient
of asking for a military detail for Il
service, when a proposition came fro
an unexpected quarter
A nun who had been wounded. al
brought l,acl; to the fort on the back
Two-Bits from an Indian e~xpeditio